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This chapter provides an outline of the image of the red imported fire ant. This image not only had an influence on the biology of the ant, but had an impact on the ones who interacted with it and on the combination of natural history and human history. On the entry of the ant to North America, the ant tackled a culture preadapted to view it with suspicion. Hence, Solenopsis invicta fell under the watch of a number of different people with different ideas, different ways of working, and different intellectual commitments. The Plant Pest Control Division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture...

This chapter provides an outline of the image of the red imported fire ant. This image not only had an influence on the biology of the ant, but had an impact on the ones who interacted with it and on the combination of natural history and human history. On the entry of the ant to North America, the ant tackled a culture preadapted to view it with suspicion. Hence, Solenopsis invicta fell under the watch of a number of different people with different ideas, different ways of working, and different intellectual commitments. The Plant Pest Control Division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) insisted that the ant was a major pest that needed to be eradicated. The eradication of the ant depended as much on the agency's internal politics as on any actual characteristic of the ant, taking into account the combination of natural and human history.